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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Some Castell House residents are having a rough week (see previous post). Six days ago, a thief stole a resident's recycling bag, emptied it on the stairs, then went round the rest of the block nicking people's clothes off their washing lines.

Next time it's sunny and you're thinking of putting the laundry out to dry, don't plan on going out and leaving it...

I just asked the caretaker why the water tank in castell house is still leaking after 3 days. He said he was really annoyed and had rung them himself 6 times to report it. Apparently one person from LH came out to 'fix' it today but its exactly the same. I rang up myself to be told that its 'not an emergency' and would be dealt with tomorrow which means it has now been leaking gallons of water for 4 days. When I questioned the period of time it has taken to plug it I was bluntly told that this was a 'good turnaround.'

Sunday, June 26, 2011

We have just heard that on 17 May the Culture, Media & Sport Committee launched a new inquiry into gambling, looking in particular at the implementation and operation of the Gambling Act 2005.

The deadline for written submissions is Thursday 30th June and the Committee is requesting views on the following issues:

• How effective the Act has been in its core objectives to:
- ensure that gambling is maintained crime-free and conducted in an open and fair manner,
- protect children and vulnerable people from the adverse effects of gambling,
- update the legislative framework with regards to online gambling;

• the financial impact of the Act on the UK gambling industry;

• the effectiveness of the Gambling Commission since its establishment, and whether it represents good value for money;

• the impact of the proliferation of off-shore online gambling operators on the UK gambling sector and what effect the Act has had on this;

• why the Act has not resulted in any new licences for casinos or “super” casinos;

• the effectiveness of the classification and regulation of gaming machines under the Act;

• what impact the Act has had on levels of problem gambling.

How to respond

The Committee is inviting written submissions on the above and other matters relevant to the inquiry. A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to cmsev@parliament.uk and should have ‘Gambling’ in the subject line. Submissions should be received by Thursday 30 June 2011.

There are quite strict rules on submitting written evidence to Select Committees, so please do follow the guidelines. For instance, make sure you include all necessary information about yourself in your email, then make your submission a single attachment which should be a Word document of UP TO 3000 words or run to no more than 6 sides of A4, begin with a short summary and have numbered paragraphs.

This information came from a campaigner in Harringey. Strangely it was not information supplied to us by our parliamentary representative.

Ironically, the June 30th deadline co-incides with the day the Planning Inspectorate announces its response to Betfred's appeal.(We now know the appeal won't be decided until October or possibly as early as end of August)

Just watching Glastonbury on telly, and there's Joe Rush of Mutoid Waste chatting to the presenter.

Locals may know Joe from the Birds Nest and the nearby Sculpture Studios. Not sure if he's still about, but Joe and Mutoid Waste, Glastonbury stalwarts, were esconced up our street for quite some time. Before what was probably just storage space at the Sculpture Studios, they had a workshop down on Copperas Street around the time or after the Laban Centre just got built – a security clamp down by the new owners of the land, Ampurius, the developers of Greenwich Village, meant they had to leave and it's all boarded up now...

Even longer ago this blogger first saw their work at Glastonbury in the very early 1980s. In those days, Mutoid Waste's were the the only weird and fantastic installations on site. This year they share the south east corner of the festival site with Shangri-La, Arcadia, The Common, The (brilliantly titled) Unfairground and Block9...

Mutoid Waste's entry on Wikipedia says, "the group became famous for building giant welded sculptures from waste materials and for customising broken down cars, as well as making large scale murals in the disused buldings where they held their parties..." but go to their new site for much more up to date info on this legendary and international group of creative warriors: www.mutatebritain.com/

Pic: www.biggerthanbeyonce.com

Meanwhile, we read that South London's own Tinie Tempah, who graced the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury tonight, is due to appear at a STRIKE DAY STREET PARTY at Deptford Town Hall on June 30th. (Facebook link)

Just in case you've been asleep, it's ALL OUT on June 30th for teachers and public sector workers...Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) says "Schools will be shut, jobcentres will be closed, driving licences won't be issued, queues will form at ports and airports"....
(Transpontine writes about Tinie Tempah here)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Sad to report a lovely little black cat was killed by an unaccompanied black 'pitbull type' dog on Tuesday outside Farrer House. The cat belonged to a long time resident of Farrer.

This is the second incident of this type on the estate in less than two years. The first dog belonged to a tenant of a leaseholder who was later evicted (leaving the dog to be rehoused by Battersea Dogs Home); this latest one may not belong to an estate resident. If you have information please tell the caretakers or me (JP) via Crosswhatfields. If you have a cat then be warned.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Crosswhatfields has published, from time to time*, snippets of the long saga concerning the provision of five waste bins in the Sue Godfrey Nature Park in Bronze Street, a seemingly never ending and, on the face of it, very tedious tale. However, as the instigator of the whole thing, I feel that what has happened should be an lesson to all who have considered or will consider volunteering to 'do business' with our local council.

In brief, my idea last year was to provide some receptacles for the drink cans and food wrappings etc. that litter that area, especially when the weather is good; this small suggestion has developed into a fine example of bureaucracy gone mad.

I envisaged a couple of guys coming down from the council depot and taking ten minutes or so to place five of the standard blue bins close to the seats or where they would be most useful. Maximum cost – say £200 for the bins and less for the labour – £400 would seem a generous budget. Nearly a year has passed, there has been a visit by at least one council 'suit', a dozen letters and more that a dozen emails have passed back and forth, a dozen or so phone calls have been made, more that half a dozen council employees have been involved, estimates of over £2,500 plus labour have been quoted. THE BINS ARE STILL NOT IN PLACE!!

All this correspondence does not involve bins for the adjacent Ferranti Park, which I am told is 'administered' by a different council department, relevant because the recent spell of fine weather has resulted in an earlier than usual spread of garbage in both parks.

If the bins ever do arrive, I suppose the little effort required on my part to site them (as has been suggested by the council) will not be beyond me but 'Get Involved' again – NEVER.

Many apologies to JP who sent this letter to the blog back in May. We were waiting for an update on the other Resident Involvement project which has also been delayed by incompetence and obfuscation, but it could be another month or two before that...

You get to see some odd sights on the Ha'penny Hatch. This afternoon's sight from my balcony looked like this.

On the left, a handful of token urban youth, on the right, a muddle of Morris dancers and mediatricians. They appeared to be dancing intermittently without music.

Approaching closer, it appeared to be a hammed-up dance off between the two groups of ''dancers''. This little bit of ha'penny opera appeared to finish with Chris Moyles accepting defeat while explaining to the victors that he only had one leg. Which, given that he'd just been pretending to Morris dance on two legs, had to be a pretty lame excuse.

A woman cycling over the bridge saw me on my bike and asked whether I had a pump for her very flat front tyre. As I fiddled vainly with my pump valve adaptor, I mentioned something about Chris Moyles. ''Oh yes'' she said and, leaning forward she confided, ''He's a twat. He talks rubbish.''

So there you have it: bicycle maintenance, astute criticisms of popular culture and work for the BBC costumes department, all on our bridge.

GDIF2011 kicks off this weekend and as usual the most spectacular attractions are happening at Canary Wharf, Mile End Park and Woolwich. The giant giraffes (Les Girafes) that dominate the GDIF publicity can be seen at Woolwich on 2nd July.

Starting this Friday and running over the weekend, Greenwich itself will be home to Greenwich Fair, a showcase of outdoor street arts. We've posted a map (click to enlarge) to point out where to head to see stuff (since much of Greenwich is being dug up at the moment). The main venue appears to be Monument Gardens at Old Royal Naval College where on Friday at 6pm and 7.50pm there'll be a promenade programme of dance, physical theatre, circus and installations. Also here at 3pm and on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings you can catch some choreographed juggling and over the weekend there'll be contemporary dance, Bollywood Dance, a lifesized Punch & Judy, puppet theatre and lots more – too much to list here!

In Greenwich Market you may come across some giant meerkats, whilst there will aerial acrobats on King Charles Lawn (Old Royal Naval College) and dance performed by local people in King Charles Courtyard where you can also see a choreographed performance featuring a London cab. Other venues include King William Colonnade in the old Naval College grounds, St Alfege Park (entrance via Bardsley Lane off Creek Road) and Park Walk (halfway up Crooms Hill). Although all events are free, some of the performances at these latter venues require prior booking.

To see what's on where and when (including the events further afield) go to the festival site.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Utrophia, the arts collective that has occupied the old Ice Cream Factory on Tanner's Hill for the past few years will be saying goodbye to their home this Friday with an evening of art, music, homemade food, performances, film and more.

After much searching for an alternative space, we've heard that they will heading down the hill to take up residence at the old Job Centre offices on Deptford High Street (next to the main Job Centre), as artist caretakers of the building. They haven't officially announced this yet but we think it's grand news.

This Friday is also the night for SLAM's (South London Art Map) Last Fridays. Check the website to see what galleries and shows are open late...In Deptford, that's Bearspace, Lewisham Arthouse, The Old Police Station, APT Gallery, The Agency, and Art Hub. A new gallery at 114 Amersham Vale, kynastonmcshine, is showing their inaugural exhibition...www.southlondonartmap.com/events/last-fridays

Sunday, June 19, 2011

That old routemaster red bus that has been stationed besides the Birds Nest pub for some time now and fondly known as the Deptford Decker has finally come into its own this weekend as The Big Red Pizzeria was launched.

We had some lovely coffee earlier but have yet to taste the pizza. However, we were most impressed with the decor and ambience and look forward to some lovely summer evenings by the river – if this weather ever improves!

The Big Red will be open next weekend 25th & 26th with some more introductory offers, and plans to open fully in the second week of July from Wednesdays to Sundays.

Residents and locals will all have had a letter from Thames Water inviting us to view new proposals relating to the construction work for the Thames Tunnel that involves Greenwich Pumping Station in Norman Road and a patch of green in Deptford Church Street.

They are staging Drop-In Sessions at the newly named Creekside Discovery Centre (newly named since Thames Water began funding the Creekside Education Trust's work) next weekend at 14 Creekside.

Saturday 24 June, 10am-7pm, and Sunday 28th June, 12noon-5pm.

On their website, Thames Tunnel Consultation, Thames Water state: "We want to give local people an opportunity to raise with us any concerns they might have about the new alternatives under consideration. Members of our project team will be available to answer questions and take note of any issues raised.

"At this stage we have not made any decisions. Our second phase of consultation (due to start in September 2011) will provide an opportunity for everybody to comment on our revised proposals."

If you're confused about how this will affect Crossfields please try to attend the consultation. Meanwhile the Deptford Dame has attempted to explain the new proposals and their impact more clearly than we can.

Last week, Darryl on the 853 blog brought us the news that Joan Ruddock's Deptford seat may become Greenwich & Deptford, as the coalition government's aims to reduce the number of MPs to 600 by the next election.

Darryl writes: "The projected Greenwich and Deptford seat would include
the Peninsula, Blackheath Westcombe and Greenwich West wards from
Greenwich borough, and combine them with Lewisham’s New Cross, Evelyn,
Telegraph Hill, Brockley and Blackheath wards. It would combine parts of
the current Greenwich and Woolwich, Lewisham East and Lewisham Deptford
seats.

"It would unite the divided areas of Blackheath and Deptford under a single MP – the two areas have been split politically since Victorian times, although much more of Deptford came under Greenwich borough until the 1990s. But there are few transport links between the east and west of the predicted seat. Both Greenwich and Lewisham boroughs also have very different political cultures.

"Splitting Brockley and Ladywell wards would probably kill off the Green Party’s long-held dreams of getting its first London MP in this area. Curiously, this seat would include Millwall Football Club, but stop just short of Charlton Athletic.

Darryl also links to a Guardian article from 5 June..."Where boundaries change, MPs of the same party will also be fighting one another for reselection. Marginal seats could be made even more marginal while dozens of seats will change hands as boundaries alter the political composition of the electorate.

"The new seats will be announced from 6 September, making for a summer of uncertainty for MPs. A lengthy consultation will follow in which the parties can make representations to challenge decisions."

Darryl explains further in his comments section that Deptford will still be part of Lewisham borough, despite the parliamentary seat changes. Further confusion for Deptford's identity then, but good news for the developers who like to say that their SE8 developments are in the heart of Greenwich.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Your chance to have your say*...plus lots happening this weekend up our road, with open studios galore, exhibitions and film screenings, and free entry to all – including Cockpit Arts who have in the past dared to charge entry and put off many locals crossing the threshold...(see listings and links at bottom of post)

With Cockpit opening their doors (did I mention for free?) to celebrate their 25th birthday, other groupings have followed suit. Cockpit are open on Friday evening (6-9pm), as is RSVP London, who have taken over a large space on The Fair Charm (aka Faircharm Trading Estate) and will be open till 10pm on Friday, and on Saturday from 12-8pm.

This is billed as The Fair Charm Consultation Event & Exhibition* and the most relevant of RSVP's exhibitors will be Karakusevic Carson Architects who will be available to talk about their potential plans for the redevelopment of Faircharm. This is a *DO NOT MISS for Crossfields residents, but note that the RSVP programme also includes free cinema screenings (Run Fat Boy Run at 8pm on Friday, and Little Miss Sunshine at 6pm on Saturday) – both good films, but one may assume the 'consultation' ends when the films begin...?

Meanwhile, on Saturday and Sunday, Creekside Artists are opening their studios and are also repeating their Faircharm Fair – first aired last Christmas with all local artists and craftspeople interested in exhibiting and/or selling their work invited to take part by hiring a very reasonably priced stall in a specially hired space in Faircharm. Catch Crossfield's own Boro and their brilliant recycled furniture among others.

Still at Faircharm, Core Gallery has a curated show In The Current Climate and the gallery's associated studio spaces in Cor Blimey Arts will be open. Further up the road, ArtHub will also be opening their studios at 5-9 Creekside. Opposite, APT Gallery is showing the second part of the much acclaimedCreekside Open (see previous post). On the way there, the almost new Creekside Cafe will have a barbeque in addition to its normal menu – and rumour has it will be licensed – in its hidey hole at the front of Faircharm Trading Estate.

We mustn't call it that any more though – it's now The Fair Charm, since recent occupants Studio Raw gave the building a cosmetic facelift before they left. It's no co-incidence that small businesses cannot afford to stay in the building – there are very few small workspaces in a building originally built as a carburettor factory. The owners, Workspace, have long been considering how they can maximise their profitsperty and make it more attractive to creative businesses – the large cavernous spaces do not lend themselves easily to smaller day lit studios which are most in demand (though paying an insurance premium against terrorist attack as well as other additional costs hasn't made renting space in this building any easier). After a few years faffing around with the idea of tarting up the present buildings (at one point, a giant roof was envisaged), they have decided to knock it all down and start again.

This decision of course has a major impact on the businesses already occupying the three buildings on the estate, and also on the residents of Crossfields Estate (some of whom, it appears, got to hear of these plans before many of the businesses).

*If you want to know what's going on across the road, this is your chance to find out and make sure your views are known. The appointed architects Karakusevic Carson recently came to say hello at a Crossfields TRA meeting. There was very little to see in the way of designs, so the meeting made its feelings known about parking and fears of new tower blocks (blocking both sun and views, as tower blocks do).

Since the plan is to build luxury homes on the site of the present carpark, and since many Faircharm employees/employers already use Crossfields estate to park in (Workspace charge for parking), it's a no brainer that the estate will become even more congested by local business parking and considerable additional residential parking if the Faircharm carpark turns into flats. A suggestion of a Residents Permit Scheme would acknowledge the estate has always been used by the public and that leaseholders have been paying for its maintenance for far too long. It's a marvellous little parking space for all sorts, visitors to the market, people who come up from Bexley to catch the train every day, staff at Lewisham College, all sorts...who ignore the Residents Only notices.

A suggestion for constructing underground parking for Faircharm was met with budgetary surprise, as though parking had never been considered. The defence was that Lewisham council has a strategy to discourage commuters from Kent (or neighbouring boroughs). Not sure what that is, but apparently if Lewisham says no, that's it. Perhaps selling off all the car parks to developers fulfills that particular strategy, as has been made patently clear in Deptford High Street and the Tidemill development.

The good news is that they plan to make the new Faircharm accessible to all so that locals can have more access to the Creek. The good/bad news is that potentially we'll have a "corner store" to serve the new flats in a new accessible road leading down to the Creek from the present entrance...(Tesco Riverline will surely have its objectors). Presumbably new entry systems on new buildings will replace the need for a gate and a security patrol that is presently keeping us out.

The bad news is that the architects are thinking of recreating the dark brick Victorian warehouse look that is typified by the converted Victorian wharf warehouses at London and Tower Bridge (aka "wharfside living"). There's a place for tall and dark, and it's not across the road in the form of buildings that were never there in the first place. Crossfields residents are already facing Colditz with the potential removal of all balcony gardens as it is (more on this soon).

The *really bad news is that some time in the next couple of years Faircharm will become a phased building site for quite some while to follow. Will they use the Creek, one wonders, to deliver building materials and avoid the use of Creekside? Also see the Deptford Dame's post.

Friday, June 10, 2011

This year, over 900 artists entered the biennial Creekside Open. Artists Phyllida Barlow and Dexter Dalwood independently viewed all the entries and selected works by 128 artists for two exhibitions. Dalwood's selection was shown at APT in May (and featured in last week's BBC2 Culture Show), and now Barlow's exhibition has opened.

The second show is a truly bonkers collection of wonderful and witty work that includes lots of paintings and videos and some big, big sculptures. In her curation, Phyllida Barlow has used nearly every surface in the gallery, including the ceilings...and some of the work is quite noisy. You'll know something's up as soon as you get to the gallery doors – two fabric Mini cars are crashing into each other....

The sculpture in the back yard makes sense when you watch the video just inside the back door – it's a fox "training" run...and the budgie in the video below lives a lonely life – don't miss this melancholy film (which was also chosen for the first show in May)...And if you thought video art was boring, you may be pleasantly surprised and mesmerised by two metal sauce boats circling in a sink...

This is a big show with lots of different work – something here is bound to bring a smile to your face. The opening is tomorrow Saturday 11th June from 3-6pm, but it'll be so crowded you won't be able to see the work, so go another time when it's quieter.

And to get you in the mood, here are some comments from local people that have been left on the No to Betfred petition:

It's killing our high streets, our local high streets have enough problems without betting shops adding to the problem, they are also magnets for antisocial behaviour and crime, surely more than one betting shop within half a mile of each other should be sufficient for most people and areas!Sascha

Deptford already has enough betting shops without another opening up within metres of two other competitors. Gemma

Betting shops are already in the area and do not serve a useful contribution to the community. An additional betting shop can be seen to be encouraging people to gamble which can lead to unmanageable debts. Surely this is not good.Wai-Joe

Enough is enough...Call that REGENERATION? I call it DEGENERATION! This is one of the only streets around left with small shops, the type where you know the shop keeper on first name terms, these places are important for the community. Love deptford, not debtford!Cecile

The number of betting shops on deptford highstreet is beyond depressing, it is as if it is now an area past hope and has been abandoned to the parasites who feed on desperation and serve only the god mamon. These parasites also include the 3 pawnshops, almost in a row (broken only by the bookies) and the tesco metro that is sucking the life blood from the already struggling small grocers on the high street. This kind of planning is immoral; a daming indictment of our so called civilised society.Nuala

I have service users who live in the New Cross and Deptford areas: they suffer from the silent addiction of gambling, this area needs jobs and a Jobcentre plus so they can access the jobs. Stop targeting the poor and jobless – this really isn't fair!!!!Joan

I am working with vulnerable adults, specifically people addicted to drug, alcohol and gambling. Consequently, we see the devastation that betting can produce. It is criminal to allow such establishments to invade and ruin a local community, exploiting the most vulnerable. Our next generation has no role models other than the need to chase a dream that never becomes reality; dependent on benefit that will never suffice their needs and drives them to crime. Please, hear us, stop this.Brigitte

It is inhuman and, I'm sure history will see, a form of madness to allow gambling premises to exist in such proliferation in one urban neighbourhood, where children grow up. Build a Las Vegas in Chelsea for everyone to play but keep it away from being a Tax on the poorer people of the more neglected areas on London, nay any city.Simon

It's so sad to see Deptford high street turning into a poor man's casino, with the attendant junkies and beggars. I have experienced aggressive anti-social behaviour on the high street and I'm sure the betting shops contribute to it. There are far too many betting shops already.Nicholas

Enough is enough! Supercasinos were defeated but these ubiquitous dives slipped through. The gambling fraternity is laughing all the way to their banks!Mike

Councils & government should be working to prevent this. This should go hand in hand with supporting useful small retail businesses. Clusters of betting shops attract gangs, petty criminals, drug dealers and alcoholics and do nothing but harm to local communities. They are often sited in poor communities who can't afford to gamble in the first place. Douglas

All Crossfields residents are invited to an Estate Walkabout next Monday 6th June at 4.30pm.

In attendance will be some Very Important People, including Lewisham Homes' Chief Executive Andrew Potter, Lewisham Homes representatives from Caretaking, Estate Services and Repairs, plus Lewisham Homes board member Cllr Paul Bell.

This is your chance to tell the senior managers any concerns or issues you may have with the services on the estate. Remember, some of these people have never set foot on the estate and need us to tell them what it's like and point out problems they may not see. The last 'Walkabout' (distinct from Estate Inspections) was in 2009 and not much has changed since.

The walkabout will meet at the estate entrance between Browne House and Castell.

If you cannot make it at this time but want to raise an issue, please get in touch with Crosswhatfields or the TRA Secretary, or your block rep (see this page), or leave a comment below.